Francesca Fiorellini and Carolina Melgrati will be part of the Team Europe that will face the Asia Pacific selection in the fourth edition of the Patsy Hankins Trophy that will be played from 8 to 10 January on the Al Hamra Golf Club course in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. It is the women’s version of the Bonallack Trophy, which will take place at the same time, where two teams of 12 players will face each other with a formula that recalls the Ryder Cup model: five foursome matches and the same number of fourball in the first two days and 12 singles in the third. 32 points are up for grabs (1 for a win, half a point for a draw and zero for a loss).
Patsy Hankins Trophy, schedule
In addition to the two Italians, the continental team, led by Dutch Myrte Eikenaar, will include the Danes Emma Bunch and Marie Eline Madsen, the Irish Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan, the English Patience Rhodes and Lottie Woad, number one in the world, the Swedes Louise Rydqvist, European champion, and Nora Sundberg and the Spanish Rocio Tejedo and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra.
The Asia Pacific team, led by Joanne McKee of Hong Kong, is Mirabel Ting (Malaysia), Eila Galitsky and Suvichaya Vinichaitham (Thailand), Soo-min Oh and Min-seo Jeong (Korea), Mamika Shinichi and Aira Nagasawa (Japan), Arianna Lau and Sophie Han (Hong Kong), Cindy Hsu Huai-chien (Taiwan), Vivian Lu (New Zealand) and Ren Yijia (China).
In the biennial showdown, which began in 2016 and is dedicated to New Zealander Patsy Hankins (1945–2015), one of the world’s most respected golf administrators, the balance is in favor of the Asians who lead by two wins to one (the 2020 showdown was not played due to the pandemic). The reigning champions are the Europeans who won in 2023 in La Manga, Spain, by 19 to 13, with Francesca Fiorellini in the team, led by the reconfirmed Eikenaar, who was also captain of the Continent of Europe Junior Vagliano Trophy in the last five years. In the first two editions, Eastern successes: in 2016 (17-15 in Portugal) with New Zealander Libby Steele as captain and in 2018 (23.5-8.5) in Qatar with McKee herself as captain, recalled after the defeat suffered in 2023 by the team led by Liz McKinnon, also New Zealander.
Among the current proettes, who participated in the event as amateurs, the Australian Hannah Green, the Japanese Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka, the Thais Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya (now Jeeno) Thitikul, the Singaporean Shannon Tan, the German Helen Briem and the Austrian Emma Spitz.
Two other Italians have competed in the race: Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso (2016) and Bianca Maria Fabrizio (2016, 2018).
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